Have You Heard?Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith – An Intention

A deft exploration of how it feels to grow up and become aware of the wider world.

By Eugenie Johnson on 12th July 2017

On last year’s debut album ‘EARS’, producer Kaitlyn Aurelia
Smith demonstrated a knack for making electronic music sound like the most
organic and natural thing in the world; it’s little surprise that she cites the
legendary David Attenborough as an influence on her work. Little more than a
year and a couple of months on and she’s readying a second LP, ‘The Kid’, which
is due out on Western Vinyl on 6th October.

With it, she’s lost none of her ambition. The record is set
to span four cognitive and emotional stages of the human lifespan across a quartet
of sides covering two LPs, covering the unaware beginnings of a newborn, the increased
self-awareness of early youth, the process of being firm in one’s identity and
the wisdom and peace that often only comes in later life. Its lead single, ‘An
Intention’, comes early in the album’s sprawling cycle, sitting within that
sphere of being like a very young child.

As such, there’s a sense of innocence to ‘An Intention’ that
captures that sense of blissful ignorance one has about the world at the very
beginning of their life. It’s an often calm and ambient tune, punctuated by
Kaitlyn’s own voice, which for the most part ethereally drifts along. But just
like a child experiencing new sensations and often confusing emotions for the
first time, the music sometimes swells, becoming more distorted and glitch-ridden
in the process. Even Kaitlyn’s voice, as she intones “ahhs”, sits somewhat
uncomfortably between pleasure and pain, unsure of really how to process the
feelings that are coming over her.

Its climax descends into unfiltered noise, seemingly
capturing the loss of innocence as the child reaches another developmental
stage. As an aural representation of what it’s like to become aware of your
surroundings, Kaitlyn has pretty much nailed it.